Background: Sukkana hails from a distant land of vast deserts, dotted by lush green oasis' and rugged rocky terrain to the far South. Since her childhood, Sukkana has been an adventurous soul, and in her teen years she was quite a rebellious hellion, a trait she still possesses to this day. Eschewing all of the arranged marriages (to rich handsome men other women in her city would swoon over) her rich parents had planned for her, Sukkana enjoyed nothing more than slipping out of the palace each night and partying until dawn. Her skill as a bellydancer is legendary, as is her singing voice, storytelling prowess, and talent for acrobatics. Amazingly, she embarked on a career as a thief for several years, just for the fun of it, and the challenge of seeing how long she could keep it up before being discovered.

Alas, eventually her 'extracurricular' activites were eventually uncovered (by one of the suitors she had snubbed) and her parents had a potential scandal on their hands. As a result, Sukkana was sent away to another kingdom as an ambassador for her country, and with all rights and priveleges. This was no disgrace to Sukkana, however, as she had yearned to travel to other lands and see what things were like outside her own country.

Old habits die hard, however, and Sukkana still goes out and parties in disguise, dancing nearly naked in one tavern after another, performing her risque acrobatics for onlookers, and telling erotic stories to rapt audiences who have never heard any of her stories (all of which were old news back in her home country). Sukkana also enjoys performing in ribald plays and finds the theater quite a pleasant diversion from her duties as an ambassador.

Some suspect Sukkana possesses other skills as well which she keeps secret. Does she really possess a Djinni bottle? Is she a sorceress? An assassin? Is she responsible for some of the burglaries in town? And just how did she get so good with a sword? Is this entire story about her past a lie, just another of her many wild tales? The rumors abound, and if they trouble Sukkana she does not show it.

Name: DendeApparent Age: 17Actual Age: 170Race: ElfAnima: Dende is a wielder of Nature Anima, a form of Anima that focuses on the powers of Earth and the body. There are many branches and sub-branches to Nature Anime, and Dende specializes in plant animation and body control.Dende is most experienced in plant animation, and she studies in the branch of plant animation, or Anima dealing with plants, and in the sub-branch of growing and controlling plants. Dende can summon combat plants, such as Man Eaters and Poison Roses, and use them against her enemy. She knows a plethora of summoning plant spells, and they are quite useful for both attack and defense. The only requirement for plant growth is a soil for it to grow in and a large outpour of Anima as a life source.Dende also studies the branch of body control, and in the sub-branches of internal flow control (also known as cell control III) and repair system control. Internal flow control deals with the flow of fluids in the body, like blood, urine, and even foreign invaders like viruses and sperm. It also deals with production and reproduction of certain cells (cell reproduction is a branch of its own, but it is also separated throughout the other cell sub branches). Dende can control where cells go, how fast they move and their reproduction rate. This branch is very useful for fighting diseases and for medical treatment. Dende can also use this power in sexual interactions, where she can cause herself to release multiple mature egg cells at a time, can make a man have an artificial erection by controlling the flow of blood into it, and even control a man’s sperm production rate. She can also use this power to speed up the pace of reproduction, where she can fasten the pace of the sperm traveling through her, and also quicken the rate at which the fertilized egg becomes an embryo, allowing her to become pregnant in a matter of minutes.The second sub-branch that Dende has learned is the repair system control. The repair system control allows Dende to heal herself or others through the control of the immune and repair system of the body. If someone has been poisoned or has fallen ill to a disease, Dende can use her power to cure them. Dende can also heal cuts, broken bones, and even limbs (this requires a lot of time to execute, and is very hard to pull off. A lot of life force is used in this process, and Dende can only use it once a day. At Dende’s current level, she can only heal lost hands or feet, not entire limbs).Dende can only use her powers in body control if she has contact with the patient, and she can only focus on one area of the body at a time. Title: MageAppearance: Personality:History: Dende’s origins originate thousands of years ago, when Anima first started to come in existence. Elves, at the time, only lived in forests with wild life and plants, and already knew much about the Earth and its surroundings. With the introduction of Anima, they used their knowledge of the Earth and its living creatures to develop magical powers that helped them understand the world around them even further, and to finally take control of their surroundings. Of course, the elves thought that without nature, they would not survive, so they only used their powers to help others. Eventually, as the knowledge of Anima grew, so did the tree of spells discovered. A group of elf philosophers, all female, discovered the first combat magic of the elf race. These powers were outlawed when proposed to the government at the time, since it would only lead to destruction. The philosophers did not take this very well, and thus started a “race” of their own. The Guargans.The Guargans were a lot like the Amazons, a group of female only elves that use combat magic to survive. But of course, they used their powers for good, since they WERE made up of a peaceful race. The group only consisted of ten to fifteen elves at a time, since only the most talented were chosen to join. None of the members were allowed to have children, and only infants that had a large potential power were able to join. And they were usually taken away from their families once found.One of the mages in the Guargans was Dende’s mother, a beautiful young elf that originated from a royal bloodline. She had great power and control over Anima, but she was passionate and emotional, something that concerned her Guargan brethren greatly. She was also young and naive, and her emotional personality sometimes got in the way of her duties.She was also a little of a rebel, not agreeing with the Guargan’s rules. She had fallen in love with a handsome elf male, who was also powerful in the ways of the Anima. She fell pregnant, but it was only during her second trimester that the Guargans found out of her treachery. She was banished from the group, and since her lover was a thing of the past, had nowhere to go.Eventually, Dende was born, and her mother decided to raise her just as the Guargans raised their young, only in a more motherly way. Dende had very good genes, and was a natural talent since birth. She had great powers resting in her, and her mother wanted to exploit them to their fullest, so Dende could be the best there was.Dende spend most of her time reading ancient conscripts and researching plant and humanoid systems, and developed the potential to learn plant and body animation. Dende was nature loving, and she has learned to grow living plants to fight by her side and control the bodies’ physics, and became both a healer and a fighter. Eventually, Dende had to break off from her mother to explore the world, and gather wisdom to further increase her knowledge of the world and eventually, master her powers. She has become very fascinated in largely populated places, like kingdoms, instead of her origins back in the forests. Dende has traveled from kingdom to kingdom, making a living for herself by healing the sick and helping those in need, and has become quite wealthy. But she has become quite lonely, and has decided that she wants an apprentice. It has come to her mind that she would have a child of her own, and raises him to be even more successful than her. So she now drives to find a man, to impregnate her and if she is lucky, spend the rest of her life with.

Sir Brandon Whiteshield is the sole heir of the Whiteshield family. He was trained from an early age to take over the responsibilites of his family. As a young man, he earned a commission in the kingdom's army. After a few years abroad, in service to the Queen, he returned a little older and a little wiser. Upon returning home, he learned of the death of his father. He settled into his family estate to assume the role of his lands protector and lord.

His adherence to his principles has earned him much respect in the court. It has also earned him several enemies. There are those that covet his lands, his position and his popularity. In particular, the leader of the Slave Guild has issues with him. They would like nothing more than to find someway to discredit or control the young lord.

If you want Ryujin, you could be my (The empress's) Bodyguard which will also give you a strong authority as you would also effectively be one of the highest ranking military leaders. Let alone having a guy like that protecting the empress will put alot of people off attempting anything from sheer intimidation.

Name: Elypsia LevantineApparent Age: 22Actual Age: 21Race: HumanAnima: ShadowTitle: Empress (Also known as "Dark Empress of Ravens"Appearance: Personality: Once a cheerful young Princess, Eclpscia has become bitter and cold due to her responsibility's and solitude. Although her cheerful nature still shows from time to timeHistory: For the first 15 years of her life Eclypsia lived the life of most fantasy Princess's she loved her father the reigning Emperor dearly, which may go a long way to explain her descent into darkness. At the age of 15 she bore whiteness to the assassination of her father, he would have killed her too and ended the royal line if a dormant magic did not surface from her grief.

Since then she has been the "chosen" to be in line to be the next empress at her 21st birthday. Never given time to mourn the loss of her father she was thrown in at the deep end as her life became enveloped in training and responsibility to the kingdom. The regent that has been in charge for this time has long been known to Eclypsia as the leader behind the plot of her fathers death and the attempt on her own. However until she is corronated she cannot move against him. However time and time again he has sent new assassins against her. But thanks to her shadow magic she has survived to this day.

No one has ever found out where Torag’s homeland is located, but then again, few people have taken the time to actually talk to him. He appeared to be a large ogre of a man whose very nature is violence.

He was discovered by the Kingdom’s army when he attacked their troops in a mindless rage. He decimated the better part of a battalion before he was rendered unconscious. The ogre awoke to find himself in chain, forced to fight for the entertainment of the nobles.

He was being transported to the city to participate in the gladiatorial games when their ship was attacked by pirates. Seeing his chance for freedom, he tore loose his chains and fought alongside the pirates. The pirates were also slavers, but instead of enslaving Torag, they offered a share in their crew. He accepted. He spent several years at sea as a raider and a slaver.

He eventually found himself at the slavers guild in the city. He was wary at first, not sure how the people of the city would react to an ogre in their midst. However he was persuaded to stay and now is employed by the slavers guild as one of the keepers at the slave kennels.

Secret:

Torag is not really as vicious and merciless as he appears. His home and family was burned by the Kingdom’s army, triggering his desire for revenge. Time has taken the edge of the pain of his lose, but he still bears a grudge against the people that stole his life from him. It is possible that he may become protective and even caring to someone who can see past the savage brute he appears to be.

Lady Sukkana will definitely be spending a lot of time with Dende (nice picture and quite an interesting profile, especially the bio-magic). Perhaps Dende will be the first to discover one of Sukkana's many secrets, and it's quite a big one.

Well, as Harem Girl is a role that's wanted I'll snatch one of them up:

Name: AishaApparent (and actual) age: 23Status: Slave in Royal Harem

Aisha originally hails from the same distant kingdom as Lady Sukkana though she hasn't seen her homeland since aged seven when along with several others she was captured by Slavers. They recognised that her exotic looks could fetch a higher price in the Empire and she was sold to a minor noble with a sizeable 'collection' of dancers. There she was trained in many different forms of dance and even more ways of pleasing her owner.

Trading on her exotic looks, Aisha became a favourite of Lord Hinsen and developed a few unique dances. One particular favourite involved the curved blades her countrymen used to make war - Lord Hinsen was no fool though and the blade is a wooden replica. This became a very popular performance, coupled with the after show entertainment, and Lord Hinsen delighted in showing her off to his peers.

Eventually, Lord Hinsen was summoned to court and of course took his favourite dancer along with him. The emperor was impressed and 'offered' to buy her. Lord Hinsen, as stated, was no fool and knew what was wanted. He gave her as a gift to the Emperor who had the bad taste to die shortly after. Aisha has spent the last six years in the Royal Harem.

Just a few questions, if you don't mind it; Do you have any sort of 'rules' to go with the Anima system? I have been reading over the thread and I'm a little confused. For example in the 'rules' in the harry potter universe for a human to use magic he/she must A) have a wand B) know the correct spell they want to use C)have a reasonable amount of training/practice on how to use it, etc...

Do you have/need any slaves? (I do both males and females) The only one I saw so far is Hayley's character.

Your more than welcome to join, it is still going to remain open even when the RP has started :)

There is some structure to anima in that you will grow exhausted if you do it too much, as well. But alot of it is limited by player discrestion because I wanted to try and keep as much freedom as possible.

The RP will be up later on today, not that I'm expecting to be in full swing until after christmas.

Hayley, would you like for our characters to have known each other back in the desert nation? I like the notion that Aisha sometimes performed with Sukkana (who would have used an alias) as dancers/acrobats in some of the bazaars, palaces, and temples in some neighboring Emirate or Caliphate domains (whichever one Aisha went to). Perhaps Aisha may have thought Sukkana (whom she knew as "Jasmin") was a slave girl in another harem (Aisha would have had no clue that she was partying and carousing with the royal daughter of Princess Badra, herself). If you do want to establish that our characters have some history together then you would likely also know a few of her many secrets, including one important one (which I will tell you privately).

If that doesn't work, then ignore all of what I just said. (this message will self destruct in 10...9...8...7...)

I will also inform our game master (Silk) of all of Sukkana's secrets before we begin, of course.

Athena, it seems fairly obvious what your character's most important secret is. Even if it is revealed out of character (the case for my character) it shouldn't be used to advantage when we are in character anyhow. Still, I'm curious now. I guess we'll have to find out during the role play.

And seeing as how Soren is an ambassador for the Levantine Kingdom, Sukkana and Soren will likely be seeing each other often for diplomatic negotiations.

Lady Sukkana will definitely be spending a lot of time with Dende (nice picture and quite an interesting profile, especially the bio-magic). Perhaps Dende will be the first to discover one of Sukkana's many secrets, and it's quite a big one.

Athena, it seems fairly obvious what your character's most important secret is.

Oh? You already got that she is actually an ancient red dragon transformed into human form by a powerful undead vizier as a punishment for not attacking the Levantine kingdom 200 years ago as he requested? You got that in one? I'm impressed!

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Even if it is revealed out of character (the case for my character) it shouldn't be used to advantage when we are in character anyhow.

Because I know what a temptation it may be to use OOC info to color certain actions and decisions (either knowingly or subconsciously) I would rather let people follow their own behavior normally and do what they would typically do. Essentially, unless there's some good way they'd know, they aren't going to know, and this applies to player as well as character.

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Still, I'm curious now. I guess we'll have to find out during the role play.

As it should be. Hence, the fun of roleplay and exploration. If everything is just instantly 'known' then what's the fun in that? Yes, my character is futa, no big surprise there for the players, though it would possibly be a big one for the other characters (unless futas are common). I am rather intrigued by them but this is the first character I've played here that is one (I made a futa character for another rp but it never actually began).

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And seeing as how Soren is an ambassador for the Levantine Kingdom, Sukkana and Soren will likely be seeing each other often for diplomatic negotiations.

That's very true. However sexual liasons are still anyone's guess. Not saying it's not in the cards, but I will be completely honest and say I am much more fascinated by female and futa partners, typically, than male ones (strictly in fantasy settings, that is).

Name: Gaist Greystone (translated)Apparent Age:25 (not that most humanoids can tell)Actual Age: 75Race:DrachenTitle: BodyguardAppearance: Gaist stands an intimidating 7 feet tall and weighing in at 700lbs. His hide is a dark grayish blue, like storm clouds. He bears a well built frame and mostly resembles a human save for the following. Short, thick, black claws make up the ends of his heels and the three toes on each of his feet. His fingernails, also black, have sharp protruding tips at the center of each, and do not grow unless the nail is damaged or removed. On his mid back are two wings that barely go past his arms and shoulders, but are usually folded. His black slitted pupils on yellow eyes overlook the blunt snout on his face, with two large nostrils at the end. He wears the traditional robes and hakama of his people. Over them he wears a Cuirass, tassets, and shoulder guards, all from his homeland, when he is in public. He has a full set of armor for occasions when he expects heavy fighting. At his waist rest a katana and a wakizashi.Personality: If one were to stand before the empress with a hostile attitude or ill intent, a quick look at Gaist would make them reconsider. A man of few words who is always serious, he believes that actions speak louder. In public he is gruff, some would even say crude. Those who know him more intimately will find that he can be soft spoken and mild mannered, always willing to lend an ear or advice. No matter where he is, he is intensely loyal to his lord, ready to give his life in a heartbeat.History: Hailing from a nation to the far east called Hai-Lan, Gaist was the son of a prestigious samurai. He was trained rigorously for several years before being given a command of his own. A few years and promotions later was when his career went from an upward spiral to a downward one. During a sortie against another noble house, he used strategies looked down upon in his culture, deceptions, feints, surprise attacks, attacking in the dead of night, surrounding the opposing armies so they could not escape. His steadfast refusal to acknowledge his dishonorable actions lead to his dismissal from military service and used him as a political gesture of goodwill. Rather than send one of their "honorable" samurai, he was offered up instead. Now disgraced and shunned by his own people, he has embraced his new role and devotes himself with even more vigor than he did before his dishonor.